Feel Goods

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. (Maya Angelou)

Feel Good…

This page is going to be probably the most chaotic page of the website.
Because I want YOU to feel good, I will go out of my way to find lots of stuff for you.
The first subject I wanted to talk to you about, is mindfulness.
It is only one word, but with a lot of meanings, therapies, books, and good advices from different coaches and perspectives attached to it.
For me, mindfulness has a quite simple meaning. BEING AWARE!
Be aware constantly, and with everything you do. Same as living in the moment.
A lot of people think that living in the moment means you are not allowed to think about past or present. Or that it means that you have to be happy every moment of your life. That is not true and probably quite impossible to do so anyway.
But if you are IN the moment (aware) whatever you are doing, working, cleaning, ironing, watching the kids, exercising, reading a book, laughing with friends, then you lead a more fulfilling live!

So Mama Buddha will post articles that will help you to stay in the moment.
With meditation, different therapies that help you feel pleasant, maybe with exercises or just a yummy recipe, or with tips how colors can help to make you look and feel better. Or just things that make you laugh.
When you are relaxed and in the moment, it is easy to have a good laugh, but I know for sure my Sunflowers, that after a good laugh it is easier to come back to yourself and feel happy!

Just watch this video, it has helped me many times;

Maybe this mother was too mindful while eating 😉

Mindfulness; ancient wisdom in new words

Mindfulness Practice

Mindfulness is a more practical way of using Buddhist wisdom in our hectic western life. Because of our lack of time, we need simple courses that give us quick and instant result. It is the way western people think; we want quick and easy solutions, in food, in thinking, in problem solving, in medicine. We want instant gratification. It seems that western people do not want to spend any time on something new, if it has no proven results…fast! New is definite not a good word for mindfulness. Because all the techniques are built on ancient, eastern wisdom. For thousands and thousands of years these techniques are being practiced in the East. By clever re-writing some of the wise words, principles and backgrounds in an eight week course, we came to realize it could help us also to release stress. And stress is a word we all recognize in western business.

Vipassana is considered as a specific Buddhist mindfulness meditation training. Vipassana teaches the practitioner to the vision and knowledge of the existence as it really is.
In the West it is known for the work of among others Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese monk who now lives in France He wrote many books on meditation and mindfulness, and gives seminars all around the world.
Numerous Buddhist monks from Thailand and Myanmar have taught Vipassana in its pure form which has led to thousands of practitioners in the Western world. Also the Burmese teacher U Ba Khin has many followers in Europe and America.

Mindfulness: One with Nature

MD John Kabat-Zinn is an American who ‘invented’ mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR). MBSR is used all over the world; it is a combination of meditation and hatha yoga, with the purpose of feeling more relaxed and aware of the moment. MBSR teaches people to cope with feelings of stress, depression and anxiety.
Another therapy based on Buddhism is Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). This therapy is mostly used on people with chronic depressions, phobias or severe chronic pains. The therapy teaches you how to use mindfulness as a new skill (trade old behavior for new behavior).

Why you are sunflowers…

‘Mama-Buddha, why are you calling your readers sunflower?’
Good question my sunflower!
Well, I love sunflowers. The color, the brightness, how they grow quickly and how they move their sunflower-heads towards the sun. It makes me feel warm and happy inside.
And you, my dear reader, you can also have a very fast (mentally) growth.
And I know that you also love light, sunshine, bright colors and happiness.
So that is why I refer to you as sunflowers.